Neither Fish Nor Foul (Gold Star Program) Gold Star

We believe you shouldn’t put boundaries around what you write based on where it fits in. You should write for the sheer joy of expressing exactly what it is you have to say. You should be bold and playful and take risks. Polish it, perfect it, then send it to us to publish.

If what we were looking for was an animal it would be a bottom-feeder ugly bastard fish, with feathers on its fins and a coxcomb. Riding a penny farthing.

Quota: This project has established a quota. Submissions will close when it is reached.

Themed Call: What Scares You Free Tip Jar Option

Open

Closes on Monday, September 30, 2024 11:59 PM GMT Daylight Time (in 22 days)

All prose fiction genres considered (although high fantasy and science fiction are likely to be a hard sell - nothing wrong with them, but typically they're not our jam)
Between 50 and 1000 words

As our first issue goes live in October, the theme is 'what scares you'. But none of your usual Halloween tropes like vampires, zombies and ghosts and other 'things which are scary'. We want those weird things that shouldn't scare you but somehow do.

We want your atypical fears. We want stories about the teddy your Nan gave you that made you cry, or the noise your washing machine makes that sounds like a punctured lung, or the horrifying idea of eating lamb because you are convinced that's what human flesh tastes like. Or great big piles of buttons. We want your fears that are neither fish nor foul.

That doesn't mean wishy-washy, though. We want to be completely immersed in your weird fears. Make the hairs on our arms stand on end. Make us smell the damp, taste the blood from your MC's bitten tongue. Surprise us, make us laugh, make us cry.

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